Like the Wind
by SweetenedSpoilers
Summary: "But I want you to know that no matter what happens, our love is like the wind. Even if you can't see it, you'll always be able to feel it." Modern day AU.


**AN: This is loosely inspired by the Only Hope scene from the film A Walk to Remember. I hope you like the story and please review!**

* * *

A cough. Then another. A sharp laugh.

Whispered conversations floated around Arthur as he sat in the audience, waiting. The blue glow of cell phone screens illuminated shadowed faces, providing dim lighting to the expectant expressions and to the fidgeting of the anxious audience. Arthur was still, working hard to exude the calm that, though he wouldn't be able to see him from the stage, Merlin so desperately needed tonight. It had taken a lot of courage to agree to this.

Quiet rolled like fog, thick and heavy, over the crowd as the curtains began to peel back from the stage. Arthur zeroed in on the gleaming black piano on the right and on the person behind it, the others on stage fading into the background as Merlin took a deep breath and began to move.

* * *

Merlin's thin, pale fingers lifted the blanket of silence as they began to dance over the keys, creating pure, crisp notes that pattered over the audience like raindrops. Arthur's head fell back against his seat as Merlin's dropped forward, the single bright spotlight rippling over his dark hair and making his alabaster skin glow ethereally while shadows emerged within the angles and planes of his face and cheekbones. The two closed their eyes at the same time—one preparing to listen, and the other to perform.

"_There's a song that's inside of my soul.  
It's the one that I've tried to write over and over again.  
I'm awake in the infinite cold,  
But you sing to me over and over and over again._

_So I lay my head back down._  
_And I lift my hands_  
_and pray to be only yours_  
_I pray, to be only yours_  
_I know now, you're my only hope."_

Merlin's voice, warm and slow, washed thickly over Arthur like honey and seemed to echo with all of the grief, all of the hope, and all of the love that the pair felt each day. He remembered what Merlin had told him the night before, that he would be singing to Arthur. Only to Arthur.

_"Sing to me the song of the stars.  
Of your galaxy dancing and laughing  
and laughing again.  
When it feels like my dreams are so far,  
Sing to me of the plans that you have for me over again._

_So I lay my head back down._  
_And I lift my hands and pray_  
_To be only yours._  
_I pray to be only yours._  
_I know now, you're my only hope._

_I give you my destiny._  
_I'm giving you all of me._  
_I want your symphony_  
_Singing in all that I am._  
_At the top of my lungs I'm giving it back._

_So I lay my head back down._  
_And I lift my hands and pray_  
_To be only yours._  
_I pray, to be only yours._  
_I pray to be only yours._  
_I know now, you're my only hope."_

* * *

Moments after the curtains closed both Arthur and Merlin were on their feet, rushing towards the door that led backstage. Neither noticed the pounding of applause that reverberated throughout the cavernous space, instead focusing on weaving through the crowds— the crush of audience members moved to tears for Arthur and the sea of exuberant actors exchanging compliments for Merlin.

They met each other halfway in the understanding darkness beside the red velvet curtains. Arthur captured Merlin in his arms, pulling him close and murmuring words of congratulations and comfort as his love took shaky breaths and tried in vain to quell his trembling.

"I love you," Arthur said softly, over and over again. "I love you, I love you, I love you."

* * *

Merlin twisted around in Arthur's embrace, pulling back just far enough to meet his eyes. In the warmth of the blankets, in the bed that they shared in their home, Merlin reveled in the timelessness of this moment.

"Do you remember what I told you, all those months ago? I asked you not to fall in love with me. I made you promise."

Grief flashed briefly through Arthur's eyes, there and gone in a flash in an attempt to hide the worry from Merlin. Arthur squeezed him tighter to his chest, nosing into his ebony locks and breathing deeply. As his hand ran up Merlin's spine, tracing the bones that had become so prominent over the weeks of treatments, Arthur laughed sadly. "You know me, Merlin. I never listen to you."

He traced his thumbs lightly over Merlin's cheekbones and then higher until they drifted over the dark circles that bloomed around Merlin's deep blue eyes. "Do you love me, Merlin?" he asked.

Merlin smiled. Despite everything, he smiled widely and fondly and nodded, his eyes glowing with conviction.

* * *

"There are times when I'm not sure if I'll make it through, Arthur," Merlin murmured against Arthur's lips. Before Arthur could issue the denials Merlin knew would come, he silenced the blonde's protests with another kiss.

"But I want you to know that no matter what happens, our love is like the wind. Even if you can't see it, you'll always be able to feel it."

"I wish that there was something I could do, M."

"Just hold me, Arthur. Please."


End file.
